The 570 is a fantastic bike, it is so easy to ride, effortless in fact, the steering is amazing and its ablity to turn in is like nothing else, nothing can out turn it, it will go under anything else out there I reckon, the motor is real smooth and the EFI is great

BUT..........it lacks hp and torque

The 650 will pull a good 10kph more on top and get there quicker, also it will work all day on a rallye at lower revs, hence the motor is less stressed, you just short shift it all day and use the grunt. I am sure that is part of its great reliability, you just dont have to work the motor hard.

However the 570 is a real rider saver, it makes you last longer and fatigue much less, you just don't have to muscle the bike around, it handles so easy. The now cliche of it feeling like a 250 to ride is so true.

It's a tough call, I love the 650, such a great motor, I love the grunt, its so much fun to ride...............BUT the 570 makes me a much better rider and makes me able to ride my best for much longer.

The other thing is the 650 is now proven, I KNOW it will do a 7-9 day rallye on the same motor no probs, I'd even take one to Dakar and swap in a new motor on the rest day and smile all the way to the finish.

The 570 however is unproven.........its based on the 530 which has known issues. The 570 already has a couple of teething issues, the 530 style hydraulic cam chain tensioner, an injector failed on one of our 570's at Condo 750, and also fuel pump's have failed so I hear. How well their big ends, main bearings etc hold up we have to see, but again they are 530 derived and 530's have issues at times. But it also has some great improvements over the 530 like 1.5L oil capacity.

Before Condo I was not sure which I would use at say Dakar, the 650 power & top speed, grunt in the sand & dunes etc or the 570.

Now I know for sure if the engine mechanicals are shown to be ok I would with out doubt use the 570, forgo the extra grunt and top speed (160kph vs 170kph) because the 570 will look after me the best by a long way. I am the weak link in the equation, rider fatigue causes as many if not more dnf's at Dakar than mechanical failure. I would again change the motor out at the halfway rest day and have a sweet easy ride for the whole event.

Brandon giving the big 650 some stick
Brandon had great speed and posted some top level stage times but unfortunately had a big endo on Day 2 & split his fuel tank and he lost lots of time, a "what if" possible top 5 ride otherwise

Before the event we thought the 650's may have had an advantage due to the extra hp & torque, but the 570's made up for the hp gap with their handling and ability to preserve the rider. At the end of the rallye there was little to seperate them on stage times.

The 650's had again a total rock solid run, very reliable bikes, no mechanical issue what so ever, just oil, filters & fuel. So over the last 3 Safari's we have used 8 650's with no OEM mechanical issues at all, only things that broke where non-OEM things we put on them.

On Day 6 only 50km into a 250km stage Annie had a stick pierce her boot and foot, breaking it off with a stump remaining she raced on to the end of the stage where medics removed it then she continued on to finish the event.............tough stuff !!!

In the teams debut year in 2008 it put a Berg into the top 10 with essentially novice Safari/rallye riders.

This year thanks to great consistent rides from David & Coake the team made top 5 in what is considered to be the toughest Safari in 10 years with the most competitive field racing at a flat out sprint pace the whole event

Of note there were 10 riders capable of making the podium this year or have done it before - Grabbo, Damien G, 2 X Smiths, AJ, Rod F, Fishy, Coake, David S, Ivan & Tim could have sneaked it

If you see the final times of the top 3, they were within 16 mins of each other, they were racing it like it was Finke not a 7 day 4,000km rallye

There was then almost a 2hr gap back to the the next bunch of Ivan & David etc

Both David and Annie commented strongly on how hot the pace was compared to other rallies and Safari's they had done

Also the dnf rate at 25% was the highest this year for the last 10 years

If Dakar regs were used that dnf rate would have gone up to 45%

So yes it was a TOUGH event this year, just as it should be

In 2010 the Husaberg Rallye Racing team's gaol is very much a podium finish

well done on the safari effort team husaberg ! awesome pics ( minus the pain ones , ouch ! ) i'm part of the team at Force Accessories , my role is design and ally fabrication , one of my first tasks when commencing employment there was the FE570 skidplate , so i'm thrilled and proud to see our product used in your safari effort and the pics here...bring on 2010 !

Ha ha . I remember that instant. There was a lady spectator off to my right that was watching the whole process and after the second or third time I started my bike because I thought the HusaBerg propaganda machine was done she laughed and rolled her eyes. I laughed too and shook my head and that was the moment the shutter captured! I think the photographer had just said, "just a couple more" or something. The Bergers sure know how to overrun a joint!

well done on the safari effort team husaberg ! awesome pics ( minus the pain ones , ouch ! ) i'm part of the team at Force Accessories , my role is design and ally fabrication , one of my first tasks when commencing employment there was the FE570 skidplate , so i'm thrilled and proud to see our product used in your safari effort and the pics here...bring on 2010 !

Anthony

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Hi Anthony,

I just wanted to send you some praise for a job well done! The bashplates on our 570's looked awesome and to be honest they were probably the number 1 accessory that was commented on by spectators looking at our bikes - all positive comments as well!

I was looking around some of the other bikes at during the ceremonial start in Perth (we were there for hours) and I think you guys (ie Force accessories) have the Safari market monopoly when it comes to skid plates and radiator guards!

Next year you'll have to convince Brian that you need to come along and experience the Safari for 'research and development' reasons.

Neither. The 08 (which I assume this is) Berg's had three displacement configurations, 450, 550 & 650. All were the same basic Husaberg (not KTM) engine except for longer strokes on each of the bigger two models.

Congrats on a great team effort Safariberg

Really, really like that prep work on the '09's, very professional and functional looking.

Your team effort must have cost a fortune - I presume the manufacturer financially backs the team and its members? Otherwise someone has some VERY deep pockets!!!

Looked like a great team as well - sort if underdogs against the big Honda team.

I hope you guys win in 2010.

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We wish!!!

Very limited backing from the manufacturer..... mainly funded out each of the riders pocket! SafariBerg can probably elaborate but my understanding is that Husaberg helped by having parts available and also by only charging cost price for the items we used. There was also some dealer support but apart from that it was primarily the 'rental' money that each of the riders paid that funded the team. Some support is certainly better than no support but yes it does cost each of the riders a small fortune to enter a race like the Australasian Safari.

My guess is Honda & KTM would have similar budgets for the Safari (fairly substantial and enough to support 2 riders each), Yamaha supported 1 rider this year, Husaberg helped to support a team of essentially privateer riders.

Very limited backing from the manufacturer..... mainly funded out each of the riders pocket! SafariBerg can probably elaborate but my understanding is that Husaberg helped by having parts available and also by only charging cost price for the items we used. There was also some dealer support but apart from that it was primarily the 'rental' money that each of the riders paid that funded the team. Some support is certainly better than no support but yes it does cost each of the riders a small fortune to enter a race like the Australasian Safari.

My guess is Honda & KTM would have similar budgets for the Safari (fairly substantial and enough to support 2 riders each), Yamaha supported 1 rider this year, Husaberg helped to support a team of essentially privateer riders.

cheers,
Coak

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Thanks mate

If it's any benefit I think you'll get a few husaberg sales out of this event - I think many are watching and seeing how well you did.

I particularly like the 650.

Great effort again - the team looked awesome and offered some alternative to the Honda team.

correct me if I'm wrong but this looks like the boot is the culprit - most modern boots have soft from new synthetic material just behind the achilles tendon area and low over the front of the leg so that ankle movement isn't as restricted as when boots where all leather (like the Alpinestars Super Victory still are). My guess is that the stick went through the "inferior" vinyl part???

Seth S said:

Pardon my french but holy fuck is that a stick protruding from Annie's shin bone?